State Senate Democratic conference majority leader John Sampson says the bid information he gave to Aqueduct racino bidder AEG was not confidential -- though there are some doubts about that. [AP/TU] [NYT City Room]

Comments

I'm appalled, but not surprised, by the news of the fatal stabbing on or near the Troy bike path.

I travel that route often, though never at night, and I frequently encounter menacing behavior in the two-three blocks at the beginning of the trail where this incident occurred.

We do not know all the details yet. And I realize that this stabbing could have occurred elsewhere.

However, this incident appears to be somehow related to the adjacent Martin Luther King "Apartments." Which gives further reason to rethink the practice of cramming people into low-income housing projects.

Housing projects are unnatural monocultures. Cities like Troy used to deploy a more healthy, integrated fabric of housing options for people of different income levels. It is far more beneficial for everyone in a community when low-income housing options are integrated with middle and high-income housing options. That earlier type of living arrangement fosters more "eyes on the street" as Jane Jacobs once said. It also encourages people of all walks of life to interact with and get to know each other. It's always better to know your neighbors because we can all learn from and help each other.

On the other hand, vast tracts of middle-income suburban developments, low-income housing projects, and exclusive gentrified city neighborhoods are all monocultures that conflict with the natural order of urbanism. Psychological isolation, violence, and xenophobia are just some of the unhealthy symptoms that arise when we segregate -- and self-segregate-- our built environment.

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